


Bond

by Toshua



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Gen, Kidnapping, Spirit Animals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-21
Updated: 2013-03-21
Packaged: 2017-12-05 23:11:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/728978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toshua/pseuds/Toshua
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A stake-out results in Jim being caught.  Originally published on 852 in 2001.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bond

**Author's Note:**

> This whole thing is based on a photo on the web entitled 'the body'. The photo is a gorgeous male nude that could easily be Jim Ellison. It demanded a story.

The panther stretched, waking from a restless sleep. His stretch was hindered by something around his right paw. Jerked awake by the restriction, the big cat tried pulling away but his paw was firmly snared. The cat's instincts fought the wire snare and it twisted and leapt, hissing and spitting at the thing digging into his paw. The wire only dug deeper. 

*******

Jim stretched, sleepily trying to remember when his bed got this hard. One arm wouldn't move and his head came up, eyes awake and staring. A handcuff secured his right wrist to a ring in the carpeted floor. Jim jerked and pulled, trying to free himself. The metal bracelet dug deeper into his wrist. He looked around, eyes dilating as he tried to determine where he was. The room was empty except for the rough white rug he lay on, the ring in the floor holding him down, and himself. He tried to sit up and failed at that attempt too. Only then did he notice his left ankle was also secured to a ring by a soft rope. And his clothes were missing. 

**********

The panther was tired now. It had gnawed at the wire circling its' paw until the black fur was wet with saliva and blood. The jungle cat panted through his open mouth, eyes dilated as it tried to see through the jungle growth and identify who had captured him. It growled softly underneath its' panting, trying to regain strength for the next battle. How had someone gotten close enough to snare it? 

*********** 

Jim tried to remember as he worked at his wrist. The skin was ripped and bleeding and he hoped the blood would smooth the way for his escape. He'd been ... where? On a stakeout ... that's right. Then how...? He pulled at his leg, flexing and working the ankle. The rope around his ankle only moved a little. Stretched like he was on his stomach, he couldn't reach back and work on it with his fingers. His hearing was stretched as far as he dared but there were no clues in the sounds around him. Still twisting at the handcuff, he tried to remember. He'd been in the truck, studying a warehouse. There had been a light in a dirty window and he'd gone to check it out. And then ... he remembered ... a sting on his neck. His free hand groped at the base of his neck and felt a welt, like a bee sting or maybe a needle or dart. Jim brought his fingers to his nose and smelled. Blood, and a drug. He'd been drugged. Now the next question was ... why? 

*************

The panther's ears flickered as he heard footsteps crashing through the undergrowth. Two pair of feet, stomping toward him without concern. Their voices were rough and loud and they smelled like guns and oil and smoke. The panther growled in his throat. He crept as close to his captured paw as possible, giving himself room to spring without pulling the paw. His captors had to get close if he wanted to defend himself. He made himself as small and as still as possible. And waited. 

************** 

Jim heard voices first, followed by footsteps on the carpet. His captors were behind him and he couldn't turn to face them. He growled to himself softly. He had to wait, see what they wanted, who they were. He froze in place, sinking into the carpet. All the hair on the back of his legs stood up as a hand barely brushed his calf. The muscles in his legs and back tensed in a fight or flight reflex. The steps came around to his side. Jim turned his head to see his captor. Immediately a flashlight beam caught his dilated eyes and he flinched away, blinded by the light. Tears of pain ran down his face as he tried to blink through the blindness. 

"Not so tough now, huh Ellison? Big tough cop, crying over a light in your eyes. Should have stayed in the truck. All we were gonna do is move a few guns overseas. Help someone who needs them." The booted foot shoved at Ellison's ribs. "Wonder if you'd fetch a high enough price to be worth the trouble? A body like yours would bring a lot on the slave market. What do you think, cop? Want to be included in my next shipment?" 

***************

The panther held still as the men approached. Through slitted eyes he recognized the poachers from previous encounters. A growl escaped his throat. This would stop now! He would kill them with his teeth the instant one got close enough! The booted feet stopped well out of reach and then one man knelt on a knee, eying the cat that was snarling at him. 

"Got you this time, Diablo. Gonna put you out of my misery. That hide of yours will fetch a pretty penny." **************** 

Jim finally could see again and he glared at the gun dealer. The name was on the tip of his tongue. "You think I'm here without backup? How stupid a cop do you think I am?" The name finally emerged from the drugs clouding his thoughts: Blackbeard, like the pirate. 

"Pretty stupid. My lookouts say it's all quiet. And my scanner didn't pick up a call for backup. I'd say that means you're by yourself. One of my men is hauling off that truck while we're talking. If anyone finds it, it'll be after the tide goes out." 

Jim fought against the restraints again. He thought he remembered calling Sandburg for backup. He thought he remembered his partner answering. But they did that so much, was this just a memory of another time? The hand that had been on the calf of his leg eased up a little further and squeezed the muscle behind his knee with hard callused fingers. 

Blackbeard chuckled. "On the other hand, my partner in crime here likes a hard body from time to time. He likes to watch them struggle, likes to make them scream. Maybe I ought to just give him to you and get away while you and he are occupied. It'd be worth the profit loss just to hear you scream." 

****************

The panther pushed against the ground and lunged, but fell short of his tormentor. The poacher rose to his feet and casually loaded a shell into his rifle. 

"Yeah, Diablo, your hide is going to make me a nice rug. Might even keep you for myself. I can point to you on the floor and tell everyone about the one that didn't get away." He pulled the bolt back and looked at the furious green eyes. "You know, cat, if I didn't know better, I'd think you're thinking how much you hate me." 

The panther's eyes were on the man with the gun, but his ears were on the undergrowth behind the poacher. A body was sliding through the brush, silent and deadly. It crept closer and the panther saw a flash of brown and white with gray splashes. The wolf's muzzle turned toward the panther for just a second, and then it charged, howling at the top of its lungs as it landed on the poacher's back. The poacher fell, the gun firing into the air as it hit the ground. 

Strong white teeth buried into the poacher's neck and shook once, twice, three times, before there was a loud snap. The second poacher had raised his gun as the wolf charged but now he froze, eyes on the body of his employer. When the panther screamed at him, he dropped the gun and raced into the jungle, the wolf snapping at his heels. 

***************** 

Jim's leg tensed, braced to kick the man who was touching him, knowing he only had one kick before he would be helpless. Then his ears heard a welcome and loved whisper. 

"Jim, I'm at 2 o'clock, Simon's at 3 and Joel is at 12, your head. Soon as you move, we do." 

Jim almost collapsed in relief. Chief! And the whole crew it sounded like. He dropped his head to the floor, took a deep breath, and kicked out with his free leg, catching the man who was stroking him high in the shoulder. 

"Police! FREEZE!" Blair's voice echoed through the room, followed by Simon's bellow of "CASCADE POLICE! Don't even think about it!" Footsteps echoed around Jim as he lay on the floor, panting slightly as the adrenaline flowed through him. Then a warm hand touched his shoulder, stroked up the back of his neck. Jim raised his head and met his partner's eyes. 

"What took you so long, Chief?" 

Sandburg shrugged. "I was here five minutes after you called. It was getting the rest of the gang in place that took a little bit. I didn't think you wanted me to charge in, guns blazing, all alone." Blair peeled out of his leather jacket and draped it across Ellison's back, not quite covering the long torso. "Sorry it took so long." He dug out his handcuff keys and unlocked Jim's wrist. "We got the whole gang, and the guns. No shots fired. Clean bust." Blair eased the metal off the bloody wrist and shook his head at it. 

Jim started to sit up, then grimaced at the number of people gathered around him. He slid the coat around to his lap. Another coat landed on his head. 

"Try this one." Simon smiled, then pulled out a pocketknife and sliced through the rope holding Jim's ankle. 

"Thanks, Captain." Jim slid into Simon's long trench coat, and gave Blair back his leather jacket. Captain and partner helped the detective to his feet. Jim looked around for his captors and saw the two men face down on the floor, hands cuffed behind them while Joel read them their rights. Uniforms were milling around what turned out to be an office inside a warehouse. Jim smiled at his partner and draped an arm over Sandburg's shoulder. 

"Did you find my clothes?" 

"No." At Jim's glare, Blair grinned. "But we saved the truck from a watery grave. Doesn't that count, Jim?" 

Jim smiled at his partner. "Oh, that counts, Chief. That definitely counts." 

**********************

Wolf trotted back to the panther and licked its face. He looked at the snared paw and licked it a few times then whined at the big cat. The wolf disappeared into the brush and came back with a large man in tribal clothing. The man looked at the cat and shook his head. His hand dropped to the wolf's head and scratched the ears. 

"Might have known you were in trouble, cat. This mutt only has a fit when something is wrong with you." The tribal warrior carefully untwisted the wire noose and freed the bloody paw. He rocked back on his heels as the cat got to its feet and wobbled a few feet away and sat down. 

The wolf looked at the warrior and wagged its tail in thank you before bouncing to the cat's side and flopping down next to it. The panther looked at the wolf, the human, and finally at its bloody paw. He dismissed both companions as he started to clean the blood-soaked wound. End


End file.
